Blog of author Ziv Gray. Indie publishing, blow-by-blow.

Week in Review

Well, I wasn’t very good last week and I forgot to do my week in review. So today, a day late, I’m determined to write a post!

Last week was anti-bullying week, and as a result, I placed Rise of the Darkwitch up for free. I’m delighted to say I gave away 141 copies of the novel! I hope that at least one person enjoys it!

I’m also doing a final proof of my manuscript before the paperback becomes available. I’m disappointed with the amount of small errors I’ve found (missing letters or small words mostly) but I guess that’s what you get when you don’t pay an editor! It’s annoying, but it’s all a learning curve. On the plus side, the cover looks gorgeous in 5×8 size!

I’m hopeful that my free offer will generate one or two Amazon reviews (preferably positive ones!) and perhaps do something to boost sales in general. I’m not too worried about selling lots of copies at the moment. I just hope I can sell a few!

In other news, draft one of book two is coming along well. I had a period of about 7 days where I didn’t write anything on the novel (but wrote about 5000 words of other stuff). I’m just shy of 24,000 words in total on book two now. It’s very rough and I know there’s a lot of work to do, but I’m glad to be powering through!

Marketing last week was all based around anti-bullying week. Now, I’m not sure exactly what to focus on! I’ve been tweeting in #OwnVoices and #WeNeedDiverseBooks, although I can’t say it’s opened any avenues of contact.

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It’s seven days since the release of Rise of the Darkwitch. I thought it would be a good idea to record what’s happened so far, and make this a regular Sunday feature.

I have no intention of trying to big myself up and seem more successful than I am. Suffice to say, the novel hasn’t been a runaway success! Not that I was expecting such a thing, of course. Overall sales this week are just under 20, and have trailed off as the week has gone on. Most sales are from friends and family (thanks guys!) and a few others are likely from people who supported my Kindle Scout campaign. I’m not expecting many more sales.

I’ve tried a few marketing things, but I’ve also continued my research into book marketing. The consensus I reached? Don’t bother yet. It’s essentially pouring money down the drain.

I’m okay with that. I’m not labouring under the illusion that I’m going to sell shed-loads of copies. It’s just not going to happen. However, I am satisfied that the product I’ve put out has a place and a purpose, and I’m hoping it’ll end up in the hands of someone who’ll find comfort in it – or at the very least, some entertainment.

This week, I’ve also joined Goodreads and KBoards, so feel free to say hi! I’ve tweeted a fair amount in the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag, as my book is very diverse, but I haven’t had much interaction.

I’m hoping that’s because I’m a small fish in a very big pond, not that my book is terrible!

In terms of new writing, I’m 15,000 words into the second Dance of Dark and Light series. Its tentative title is The Glass Empire. There’ll be a cover reveal soon!

My reading for the week has been Ruth White’s Lily of the Valley, which is free today on Amazon! I’ve also downloaded the Warrior trilogy by Don McQuinn.

I’ll be blogging a review of Lily of the Valley when I’m finished.

That’s about it for this week! Apart from slicing three of my fingers while pumpkin carving, and the incident of falling into a hedge and badly bruising both knees. The less said about those events, the better…